Serious piracy problem and its consequences

[Sariel]

Guys, this thing has been a growing issue for me for some time and I want to share it with you. I'll try to be as brief as possible.

Things is, my second book is now available in ebook format - in fact, me and publisher chose to release the ebook as part of the Humble Bundle because this way we could direct large part of the revenue towards the charity. But, just like with my first book, it is now widely pirated. I consider it a serious problem - let me explain why. There are two issues.

First, I know not everybody likes me. I've become popular and this alone is enough to make some folks frown, plus it also puts me in a big spotlight - me, and everything I do. I'm just a regular builder and sometimes I'm just tired of answering the same question and explaining the same thing for like 500th time. I'm getting 42 comments per day from YouTube alone these days. And I'm trying to keep up with them, because many people have questions I can help them with. However, I only have patience of a human being, so my reaction is sometimes sarcastic e.g. when asked 20th time about thing that is explicitly explained at the start of a video and in description below it. People can miss things that a video literally starts with - but that does not excuse me, obviously. I sometimes wonder if I should stop following comments completely. But long story short, it's easy to bash the popular guy, I get it. And it's easy to overlook help I'm offering and focus on bad stuff, but well, I can't ask everybody to like me. I'm not a jar of Nutella, after all. The problem is, for some people this dislike alone is a perfect excuse to commit piracy.

Second, whether you like me or not I think you'll agree it's good to have books on Lego being published. Some of them may have helped you, some of them may have simply been pleasant to read - mine or somebody else's, fortunately there are many writers active in this area. But here's the problem: pirate enough stuff and there will be no more books. Literally.

I've risen these two issues because I've just talked today to one person who's partially responsible for pirating my second book, and this person told me two things: first, that I'm a rich **** that gets rain of money from the Lego company, and second that they thought this book was free. So let me explain something.

First, I'm 32, living in a rented apartment, I don't have a car and never had one. What little savings I have come largely from my full-time job: I happen to be rather successful as a graphic designer, which isn't easily achieved in this particular field. And sometimes I don't buy a single LEGO set per year because I can't really afford it, I'd rather use my money with Bricklink and only after looking really long and hard for bargains. There are MOCs out there that costed more to build than my entire LEGO collection did. So much for being rich. And as for Lego, I never got a single penny from them because what would they pay me for, exactly? True, they send me Technic sets to review and I get to keep them. I only had to spend 6 years building my YouTube channel to achieve that, and I put hours of work into every single review, and then report back to Lego about its popularity. I realize many of us would gladly spend hours with camera to get a free set, but trust me: you would think twice if you had 10 sets to cover in a month, some 6,000 pieces altogether, and each video requiring about 8 hours of work from start to finish, on average. Oh, and don't forget about folks who will reupload your review as theirs once you're done.

Second, and final: no, these books aren't free. I wish they could be, but that won't happen in this world. Because in this world my last book involved 6 months spent coordinating efforts of over 40 people from all over the world and I simply couldn't do that without publisher's backing. I'm one guy and I can't do everything nor pay others to do things like composition, proofreading, reaching out to resellers, marketing and so on. A book like this is born from the work of many professionals who simply have to earn their living. So when a book like this comes out, it has to earn back what it cost to make. And it cost quite a bit, because somebody - the publisher, mostly - paid for all these people's work, and then for printing, delivery and a dozen of other things, and he did it up front, before the book earned a single penny. I'm not a lunatic to think that every copy pirated is one copy not being sold, but the fact remains that piracy hurts the book's chance to profit. Many people, when facing a choice between paying and downloading, will choose the simpler option. What some of these people don't realize, I think, is a simple dependence: if this book doesn't bring a profit, the publisher will never make another one. And why would he? He just put a lot of his money on the table and he didn't get it back. It's really that simple.

I did mention consequences in the title. You see, there's a third book in the works and at this point I'm really unwilling to release it as an ebook. I'm inclined towards printed version only. I've talked to the publisher about our options with ebooks and DRM and we agree that it wouldn't stop the pirates, it would only harm legit customers. It's not a final decision, but what is final is fact that pirating a book is a felony. The very first words you can see in this book are:

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.

Which means that pirating a book is not only hurting the publisher, but it can potentially result in a legal action, too. It's stealing property, and the publisher who's essentially the property owner in this analogy, is equipped to fight back. I'm telling you here and now that I will pass any pirating websites I come across along to publisher's legal department. Why? Because I'd like to make another book happen. And no, it's not exactly like I do this to wallow in money. I get less than $1 for every copy of the book that's sold. And then I pay taxes in two countries - because I live in one and the book sells in another - and then there's reserve against returned copies deducted from my royalties, simply because customer comes first.

At least for us. Can't speak for the pirates.

Sorry about the lengthy post. I hope you'll understand. Sorry if I sound pissed, it's just that I've written some 4,500 emails to get this second book done and then somebody pirated it with like 2 clicks. I hope that person is swelling with pride.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Sariel

[Conchas]

I'm fully with you, Paul!

I just wonder and this is not from today, why theses books are ever released in electronic format? Besides I haven't faced with any electronic copy, isn't it just making the Pirates life easier?

Or is it that nowadays there are many people that won't buy a book if it is not available in electronic format?

[Anio]

I was about to post the very same post Conchas has written. :)

[Sariel]

Thanks Fernando, thanks Anio. Yes, releasing DRM-free ebooks makes pirate's "job" easy as pie. It's second time that we've done this in good faith, thinking of what's best for legit customers, and it's second time this good faith proves unfounded. I realize I won't make piracy disappear. But it shocks me that there are AFOLs sharing these pirated ebooks left and right because they see absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Sariel

[N-4K0]

I agree wholeheartedly. What's the point in spending time and money to make something, if someone else just steals it and you get nothing back for your work?

[kieran]

Even with printed only people will scan them and send the PDFs around. Real shame. I for one own a copy of your first book in printed form and love it.

[Sariel]

Even with printed only people will scan them and send the PDFs around. Real shame. I for one own a copy of your first book in printed form and love it.

Thank you. These books are usually over 250 pages long, that's a lot of scanning. Most potential pirates will be too lazy for this, I think. And if they do pirate it, well, in this case at least they put some effort into it :)

Edited March 5, 2015 by Sariel

[Omikron]

One of my friends who happens to be an artist once faced the same situation. He dealt with it somewhat successfully.

The basic method that he used - he joined a big corporation with a strong layer department, but lost some of his "freedom and independence rights" in the process. But he got the protection, so piracy is not his personal problem anymore.

In terms of your situation I strongly suggest you to contact Lego representative that could forward you to their legal department. Lego has rather good legal department and I'm sure both of you could find an agreement and sign a deal by making your content - official LEGO content.

You just can't fight piracy successfully if you are alone. You either accept that some of your work will be distributed without your permission, or side with big brother, and let him deal with it for a price.

There's always a catch though. LEGO may not be interested in any collaboration.

Those LÄZÖR HÄMSTERS could be very handy alternative though.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Omikron

[Patman]

What a rotten deal--Always someone has spoil things! I'm very old-school, so a print-only book wouldn't bother me a bit. Thanks for doing what you do in spite of the nasties. My wife got me your book for Christmas. Fascinating--I wish I could visualise Lego construction half so well!!

[Blakbird]

I'd like to think that you are preaching to the choir here, and that our fellow Eurobricks Technic members all know who you are, support our hobby, and wouldn't be dumb enough to pirate your book. But maybe I'm wrong.

As much as I agree with everything you wrote, I also think that pirates don't give a flying $&@! about who they are hurting or the potential legal consequences of their actions. They do what they do because they care only about themselves and typically operate entirely without consequences. These are the same types of people who steal iPods from cars because they know the police will never do anything about it. I wish some well placed words would sting their consciences, but I don't think they have any.

[Jay Psi]

These books are usually over 250 pages long, that's a lot of scanning. Most potential pirates will be too lazy for this, I think. And if they do pirate it, well, in this case at least they put some effort into it :)

You'd be surprised by the lengths some people will go to chasing the "glory" of being the first to release unpirated content, and once the hard work (as it were) has been done all it takes is Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V to get the EZ-PYRASEE ball rolling again.

As someone who bought the Humble Bundle just to get your book in electronic format, I would live with you to ditching the ebook format even though I would be less likely to purchase it. There isn't much of a sliding scale with DRM - it's either woefully easily bypassed or it frustrates the paying customer no end, and in a lot of cases it's both. If a print-only run is going to be the only way to get round this issue then I think you should do what it takes.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Jay Psi

[Saberwing40k]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear about your pirating issue. Some people just suck. And, this is rather different than the whining of record labels and other stuff like that. This is a missive by a fan who makes stuff for other fans to enjoy, and does not like it when people just steal it. I personally am for making any future books print only, as I like the feel of a real book better. I totally understand where you are coming from, even if I haven't been there myself. Although, I'm under the impression that most pirates are people of my generation, the 'free range' generation that are just allowed to do whatever they want because the parents can't be arsed to look after them, for various reasons. So yeah, I think there is very little you can do about the rampant piracy, as it is a byproduct of society. But, you can still do things to protect against it, like make any other books print only, because most people who do piracy like this don't even know what a book is.

[Tommy Styrvoky]

This is unfortunate, as you have invested quite a bit of time in the books. I have bought your builders guide off iTunes, and plan to eventually get a copy of your newest book.

[dr_spock]

I think you'll have to take legal action against the party involved. If he is in a different country, it may get complicated and expensive.

Maybe we need an association like the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). Perhaps MBA (MOC Builders Association) to fight intellectual property violations.

[DrJB]

I certainly can share your frustration, and 'commend' you for being very 'open' about how/what you do. It takes courage, for sure. Unfortunately what you call piracy is rampant in other forms wherever humans are. People at work regularly copy my slides (which I've spent hours generating), include them in their presentation, and never give credit. Sadly, there are many artists who got disgusted by piracy and decided to try something else. If it's any consolation, the people who are using piracy would most likely not spend a penny to buy your book in the first place. So, it may never really put a dent in your 'revenues'. That said, I did buy the print copy of your second book and an e-copy of the first one. Amazon and Apple have made the e-books very 'convenient/cheap' but in all honesty, nothing beats the feel of a REAL book. The 'real' lego AFOLs out there, those who spend hundreds of $$$/Euros would most likely not go for a 'free' e-book. What's $10? It's less than a 'Pick-A-Brick cup for Heaven's sake ...

Lastly, keep up the good work, for you have given many of us hours of enjoyment with our colorful bricks.

Edited March 6, 2015 by DrJB

[Sariel]

Thank you for all your support and your kind words. Just to make it clear, it's not my intention to advertise my books here and make you buy them. It's about the bigger picture: our part of the books market. I wanted to make it clear what piracy is and how it affects this market. I don't care much for my revenue, but I care for having chance to make another book. And I'm not the only person putting days, weeks and months of work into it - people's jobs depend on the books market condition. I was hoping to discourage at least a couple of folks from downloading the pirated copy, because every person counts given how very niche our hobby is.

Look, Stephen King sells millions of books. But books on Lego? I don't know about others, but mine usually get 20,000 copies printed in first printing. 20,000 copies of English edition sold worldwide. That's how small our part of the market is. So trust me, it really doesn't take much to put a publisher out of business.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Sariel

[Graydingo]

Well for what it's worth, I've purchased two of your books Sariel, and I plan to buy any new ones as well. I like the hard copies. you're right DRM is terrible and typically only hurts the actual paying consumer.

I think as an artist, piracy comes with the territory. Take it as a compliment and just hope that you can sell enough legit copies to offset the piracy. I wouldn't do the digital copies personally, too easy to pirate there.

As blackbird mentioned, you are likely preaching to the choir here.

For every pirate out there there are a thousand people inspired by your amazing creations. Don't get discouraged.

Also, this isn't meant as mean, but take an honest look at your PC. Any pirated movies, music games or other expensive software (Adobe photoshop etc) ? I try to keep my PC 100% legit, but last week a friend brought me two movies for a research project. It's all too easy to be hypocritical.

[Nalyd997]

No eBook. Problem solved! I own both of your books an I just loved them. Please don't let this stop you from writing another

[plew2000]

Their is a reason your books are being pirated. I wish I could give you some hints but I (obviously) have no experience on the matter. Perhaps you could talk to the LEGO group, they might can help, and maybe it could even be taken to court. Good luck and keep us updated! Cheers!

[dougstar]

just know this, some people are jealous, and they hate to see people succeed and the will go out of their way to troll you or what you are doing. they are only doing this to make them selves feel better about their sad sad existence. as for theft well tahts a whole new ball game, if you can prove it charge them!

[TinkerBrick]

@ Sariel

I'm sorry to hear that. I bought your 1st book from NoStarch (hardcopy and eBook/PDF). I ever wondered why there was a PDF version downloadable when i did the purchase. It set no hurdles to pirating at all. However i did not share the electronic copies with my friend.

I share the opinion that DRM won't help much. Tools for Mac and PC to get around this are just a few clicks away. Maybe a visible watermark to the electronically published books would appeal to some folks. Or you and your publisher should give it a try just to do hardcopies of your upcoming book.

At last it is a shame AFOLs spending hundreds of bucks on bricks every year and not willing to spend any "change" on books and instructions.

Well, i admire your works and the effort you put in it. I really hope you'll find a way that works out for you and your publisher.

Edited March 6, 2015 by TinkerBrick

[John Daniels]

Some people are truly unbelievable. I purchased "Incredible LEGO Technic", and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of it. The amount of work put into the book is evident in it's quality. And it is a shame that people pirate books and take away from the author as well as the publisher.

The lack of an ebook wouldn't bother me at all, I personally prefer a solid book over an ebook anyway.

~John

[lego2lego]

Everything has already been said above, and although I rarely venture outside of the digital LEGO world I will by a copy of your book to support you. However I am pretty shocked to hear how low your compensation is. Basically you do all the work, they (publisher) takes some risk, but come on... 1 euro from a 16 euro digital version, that is robbery!

Sadly I don't think hiring lawyers will solve a thing, if that would have been the case the movie studios/record labels would have stopped digital piracy a long time ago. Now they usually find some token "criminal" read: some poor soul who downloaded a couple of songs and fine them millions, and ruin their lives and in some cases their children's future as well.

But on topic, keep on writing you have my euro!

[gti180]

Might sound like a stupid thing to say but.. reading the above sounds like this is no longer a hobby for you.

I'm sure you started with Lego because it was fun, i hope you find away to get the fun back or you may end up giving this up which non of us want to happen.

[Rockbrick]

its difficult balancing a job and a hobby (successfuly paying for itself or not) its really like two jobs - eventually you going to have to stick with one or the other